Centering device for pay-off reels



Jan. 6, 1942. E. A. MATTESON CENTERING DEVICE FOR PAY-OFF REELS I 2 Shets-Sheet 1 Filed July 9, 1940 INVENTOR. [z W//\/ A. MA 77550 fig? ATTORNEYS Y Jan. 6, 1942.

A. MATTESON CENTERING DEVICE FOR PAY-OFF REELS Filed July 9, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. [ZW/IV A-NATTESON,

ATTORNEYS Patented Jan. 6, 1942 UNITED STAT as PATENT OFFICE" oan'ranmo DEVICE FOR PAY-OFF aunts Elwin A. Matteson, Youngstown, Ohio, aaaignor to The Aetna-Standard Engineering Company, Youngstown, Ohio, a'corporation of Ohio Application July 9, 1940, Serial No. 344,516

Claims. (01.242-79) r This invention relates to feeding or pay-ofi devices and more particularly to apparatus for paying off coiled strip material such as coiled strip steel, to a succeeding machine or apparatus.

My prior Patent No. 2,175,755 issued October 10, 1939, discloses and claims an advantageous type of coil feeding apparatus. It embodies a power driven traveling elevator for loading coils of material, such as sheet steel, upon an ex-' panding mandrel, which is aligned with the tracks upon which the elevator'operates. The present invention constitutes an improvement of the apparatus described and claimed in my aforesaid patent, in that mechanism is provided for a cofl feeding apparatus of the type describedin my prior patent aforesaid, and is particularly pertinent for main conjunction with coils of steel strip. Those skilled in the art will apprenected to an air cylinder ii for actuating cams I1 and It. The cams coast with radially extending segments, is, 20, 2| and 22 for expanding the mandrel. l0 outwardly to engage the interior of a coil of strip material C.

The coiled strip material may be loaded upon the mandrel by means of the traveling elevator E operating in a pit below the level of the floor F. The elevator comprises a suitable car or ciate, however, that the inventionmay be applicable to different types of coil feeding devices and will be useful in connection with the handling of other materials. Therefore, it is to be I understood that the following disclosure is given only by way of example and not as limiting my invention to the preferred form described.

Referring to the drawings, Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a preferred form of pay-off reel embodying my invention. Fig.2 is aplan view of the mandrel and associated apparatus illustrated in Fig. 1, as indicated by line 2-2 on Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the centering device or stop as indicated by the line 3-3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a sectional detail of the centering mechanism, as indicated by the line 44 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 5 is another detail illustrating the stop and associated mechanism as indicated by the line 55 of Fig. 3.

As illustrated in Fig. 1 and described in detail in my prior Patent No. 2,175,755, a preferred form of coil feeding apparatus to which my present inventionmay be advantageously applied comprises an expanding mandrel l0 aiiixed upon the end of a shaft H which is mounted in antifriction bearings 12 within a box or pedestal member l3. Extending through a central bore in the shaft l I there is a rod I 4 which-is contruck mounted on a track. which is in alignment with the axis of the mandrel and supported by any convenient construction upon the foundation 25. The track is of a sufficient length to permit the loading of the elevator with a coil of strip material without its interfering with the operation of the mandrel or the discharge therefrom of coiled material mounted thereon.

The elevator comprises a platform 26 having formed therein an arcuate surface 21 for the reception of the coil of strip material. In. its lowered position, the platform is disposed at the level of the floor F so that the coil of strip material may be easily rolled upon the arcuate surface 21. The platform is elevated by any convenient mechanism, such as jack screws driven by a motor 28, for aligning the central; opening of the coil with the mandrel. With-the coil raised to its proper position, the elevator is moved along the track 24 by a chain 29 for sliding the coil of strip material over the mandrel It.

The air cylinder It extends the rod I4 causing the'cams I1 and Hi to engage the segments is, 20,=2l and 22 which in turn expand the mandrel It for firmly gripping the inner surface of the coiled material. The platform 26 is then disengaged from the outer surface of the coil and returned to its loading position, whereupon the strip material on the mandrel may be fed to any succeeding machine or operation. 40'

The mechanism just described is disclosed in my prior patent. Uncoiling devices of this character are used with coils of strip material of various widths and it is desirable that such coils,

regardless of their width, be accurately positioned on the mandrel with respect to the next loaded on the mandrel but which is so designed that the positioning or centering device cannot damage the edges of the strip material as the coil is being unwound.

A preferred form of my apparatus is illustrated in the drawings and comprises a stop member in the form of a plate 30 having an arcuate cut-away portion 3| formed therein which is disposed immediately above the mandrel 10. The outer surface 32 on the stop plate 30 is adapted to engage and center a coil of strip material as it is placed upon the mandrel. The stop, or plate 30, is supported by a pair of rods 34 and 35 which extend parallel to the axis of the mandrel and are positioned superjacent thereto. The rods 34 and 35 are slidably mounted in bearings 36, which are in turn carried by tubular members 33 and 39 through which the rods extend. The tubular members are supported by the built-up framework 31.

In order to effect a rapid and. accurate adjustment of the position of the rods and stop member, the upper surfaces of the rods are provided with rack teeth, as indicated at 40 and M, which are engaged by pinions 42 and 43, respectively, mounted upon a shaft 44. The shaft is supported by suitable bearings 46 and 41 in the frame 31 and has secured on an end thereof a hand wheel 49 for adjusting the position of the rods and stop member. A locking pin 50 which is engageable with openings in a plate i (see Fig. 4) looks the shaft 44 against rotation and thus secures the rods 34 and 35 in various positions of adjustment.

To assist the operator in setting the stop plate, the end of the rod 35 remote from the stop 30 is provided with a pointer 52 which coacts with a scale 53 on the frame 31 to indicate the proper setting of the stop for coils of strip material of various widths.

Suitable mechanism is provided at the ends of the rods 34 and 35 for automatically withdrawing the stop member a sufficient distance from the edges of the coils of material to prevent the coils from being damaged as they are discharged from the mandrel. To accomplish this result the ends of the rods adjacent the plate 30 have sleeves 55 and 56 slidably mounted thereon which are provided with flanges 51 and 58 to which the plate is bolted. Mounted on the rods are collars 59 which engage the ends of the sleeves when the stop plate is in the position shown in Fig. 3.

Secured to the free ends of the sleeves 55 and 56 there are tubular extensions BI and 52 provided with caps 63 affixed to the ends thereof for the retention of compression springs 64 which are seated on the collars 59. As shown in Fig. 3 the springs 64 urge the caps 53 outwardly for retaining the sleeves 55 and 5G and plate 30 in engagement with the collars 59. However, the sleeves and plate may be advanced over the mandrel by means of wedges 61 and 58 which extend through slots 69 and formed in the rods and sleeves respectively. Thus in one position the wedges force the sleeves and plate out beyond the ends of the rods, whereas in the other position the wedges are disengaged from the sleeves and permit the springs to move the sleeves back into engagement with the collars 53.

Supported by a bracket carried by the stop plate 30 there is an air cylinder 12 having a piston H disposed therein with piston rods 13 extending therefrom which are adapted to actuate the wedges through links 14. The bracket 15 affixed to the stop plate 30 enables the air cylinder and its associated mechanism to be moved to various positions as the rods 34 and 35 are adjusted by the hand wheel 48. Air is supplied to the cylinder 12 through flexible hoses 16, the controls preferably being such that when the mandrel is in its collapsed position, as shown in Fig. 1, air is admitted to the cylinder I2 to force the piston II to one end thereof, thereby urging the wedges through connecting links 14 into engagement with the sleeves 55 and 56 for moving the sleeves and stop plate to their outermost positions.

After the coil has been brought into engagement with the stop by the operation of the elevator, air is admitted to the cylinder l5 for expanding the mandrel I0. This operation reverses the connections to the cylinder 12 so that the piston II is moved to the other end of the cylinder and the wedges 51 and 68 are withdrawn from the sleeves, permitting the sleeves to be moved back against the collars 53 through the action of the springs 64. The retraction of the sleeves withdraws the stop member 30 from contact with the edges of the coil to the position shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. While it is desirable to have the valves operate in the manner disclosed it will be apparent that the cylinders may be controlled independently of one another.

Although the foregoing description is necessarily of a detailed character, in order that the invention may be completely set forth, it is to be understood that the specific terminology is not intended to be restrictive or confining, and that various rearrangements of parts and modifications of detail may be resorted to without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention as herein claimed.

I claim:

1. In a strip feeding machine embodying a support, a rotatable expanding mandrel mounted thereon, said mandrel being adapted to support a coil of vstrip material thereon, a second support, arms mounted thereon superjacent the mandrel and parallel thereto, collars aflixed to the arms adjacent an end thereof, a stop member, sleeves secured thereto and telescopically engaging said collars and the ends of said arms, an air cylinder, a piston therein, wedges projecting through the sleeves and arms and connected to said piston for extending the stop member outwardly, said arms adjustabiy positioning said stop member for positioning said coil of strip material on the mandrel, caps on the free ends of the sleeves and springs interposed between the caps and said collars to retract said stop member prior to the paying off of the strip material from the mandrel.

2. In a pay-off device embodying a mandrel adapted to support a coil of strip material thereon, a stop disposed above the mandrel, means for adjustably positioning the stop with respect to the mandrel to position the coil of strip material thereon and additional means carried by the stop to effect its advancement and retraction independently of the first named means.

3. In a strip feeding machine embodying a mandrel adapted to support acoil of strip material thereon, a support, arms slidably mounted thereon superjacent the mandrel and parallel thereto, a stop disposed on the ends of the arms, said arms adapted to be positioned at a predetermined point with respe t to the mandrel. means for advancing the stop to locate the material on the mandrel subsequent to the positioning of the arms, comprising an air cylinder carried by said arms for retracting said stop member from said coil without affecting the pomounted on the stop, a piston therein and wedges connected to the piston and arms, said means being adapted to retract the stop prior to the pay-01f of the material from the mandrel.

4. In a strip feeding machine embodying a mandrel adapted to support a coil of strip material thereon, a framework, arms slidabl'y mounted thereon superjacent the mandrel and parallel thereto, a stop member connected to an end of said arms and adapted to engage a coil of strip material to locate it with respect to the mandrel, means for positioning said arms at a predetermined point with respect to the mandrel comprising a shaft mounted on said framework normal to the arms, pinions'on said shaft, rack teeth on said arms engageable with said pinions and a crank on said shaft, and additional means ELWIN A. MA'I'IESON. 

